EA 4334 - Research areas and scientific program

The Movement, Interactions, Performance research team (MIP, recognized as Equipe d'accueil by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research) gathers professors-researchers and PhD students from the University of Nantes (Faculty of Sport Sciences) and the University of Maine (Department of Sport Sciences), working together in a multidisciplinary scientific program, entitled Performance analysis and optimization. The center of interest is the characterization and the understanding of physiological, biomechanical and psychological processes, fundamentally connected to human adaptive plasticity and responsible for the modification and improvement of performance. A better understanding of adaptive plasticity and of the conditions in which it can be exploited in various sport, educational and therapeutic situations, represents a first priority topic for the sport and physical activity community, and for the communities of other disciplines represented in the laboratory.The two research areas of the lab is to analyze human motor performance as a complex system from a multidisciplinary point of view, and on complimentary levels of analysis, in order to deal with the challenges associated with the optimization of this performance. The first area of research focuses on the adaptations of neuromuscular function to the constraints of various motor tasks, considering both muscular coordination (see below the interview of François Hug) and musculoskeletal mechanical properties. The second area of research focuses on the contextual and dynamic adaptations of the human cognition in various situations, considering the team cognition involved in tasks of collective performance or cooperative learning on one hand, and the cognitive and psychomotor adaptability of vulnerable individuals on the other. Both research areas are organised around current original scientific topics, but are also interested in development (engineering of training, teaching or rehabilitation situations) that are essential in the different intervention domains in the field of sport and physical activity.

This dual orientation, scientific and practical, tends to facilitate dialog with the actors of the sport, educative and health spheres. It also allows the laboratory to contribute in answering current challenges in society.

Interview of François Hug at the International Congress on Sport Science Research and Technological Support (Vilamoura, Portugal, 2013)

Interview of Antoine Nordez at the International Congress on Sport Science Research and Technological Support (Rome, Italy, 2014)